Flindar
Flindar 'is a state in Kazulia which, over to past decades has developed this important role in recent decades, when the capital was moved to Skalm. It has since been the heart of Kazulian culture and politics and one of the most important areas in Northern Dovani. Geography Flindar extends from Hurut to the Vaulling mountains. The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. Flindar's western part is a mountainous plateau with forested valleys and high, grassy pastures; its eastern part contains a lowland basin with many lakes and streams. History (Work in Progress) Politics The capital of Flindar is Folland. The state is organised into four branches of governance—the State Governor who acts as the representative of the crown-in-state, the executive branch consisting of the Minister-President; the legislative branch consisting of the National Assembly; and the judicial branch consisting of the High Court of Flindar and lower courts. The task of legislating is split between the National Assembly and the Stortinget. The Stortinget is responsible for all matters which directly affect Kazulia as a whole. The Assembly is responsible for cultural matters, the education system, matters of internal security, i.e. the police, building supervision, healthcare, the media and a suite of other devolved responsibilities as outlined by the constitution, within Flindar. The Assembly may enact laws as long as the Stortinget does not make use of its right to legislate. '''Executive ' Executive authority is vested in the State Governor of Flindar, who represents and is appointed by the monarch. The current State Governor is Emma Frederiksen. The Governor commissions as Minister-President the leader of the parliamentary political party that can command a simple majority of votes in the National Assembly. The Minister-President then recommends the appointment of other members of the assembly to be appointed as his/her cabinet/government. These recommendations are voted on by the assembly and should they be passed, the Governor shall upon the advice of the Minister-President appoint the nominated members as the cabinet. '''Judiciary The courts are divided into two parallel and separate systems: The general courts (allmänna domstolar) for criminal and civil cases, and administrative courts (förvaltningsdomstolar) for cases relating to disputes between private persons and the authorities. Each of these systems has three tiers, where the top tier court of the respective system typically only will hear cases that may become precedent. There are also a number of special courts, which will hear a narrower set of cases, as set down by legislation. The High Court of Flindar (Högsta domstolen) is the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Flindar before matters are sent to the Supreme Court of Kazulia. Before a case can be decided by the High Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of interest as a precedent. The High Court consists of 16 Justices (justitieråd), appointed by the Government, but the court as an institution is independent of the National Assembly, and the Government is not able to interfere with the decisions of the court. Economy Flindar is the second-richest state of Kazulia in terms of GDP and GDP per capita and a high standard of living is experienced by its citizens. Flindar has an export-oriented mixed economy. Business services (particularly insurance), hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade. Flindar's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports, while telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and employment. The state ranks as the highest in Kazulia for telephone and Internet access penetration. Similar to the other states (excluding Agatha), trade unions, employers' associations and collective agreements cover a large share of the employees in the state. The high coverage of collective agreements is achieved despite the absence of state mechanisms extending collective agreements to whole industries or sectors. Both the prominent role of collective bargaining and the way in which the high rate of coverage is achieved reflect the dominance of self-regulation (regulation by the labour market parties themselves) over state regulation in Flindarish industrial relations. In terms of structure, the Flindarish economy is characterised by a large, knowledge-intensive and export-oriented manufacturing sector; an increasing, but comparatively small, business service sector; and by international standards, a large public service sector. Large organisations, both in manufacturing and services, dominate the Flindarish economy. High and medium-high technology manufacturing accounts for 10% of GDP. Energy Flindar's energy market is largely regulated. Kazulia's energy market is one of the heaviest regulated energy markets in the world. Out of a total electricity production of 140 TWh, electricity from hydropower accounted for 60 TWh (43%), and nuclear power delivered 65 TWh (47%). At the same time, the use of biofuels etc. produced 15 TWh (10%) of electricity, while wind power produced 1 TWh (1%). Biomass is mainly used to produce heat for district heating and central heating and industry processes. Flindar is the only state of Kazulia to completely eliminate its dependence on natural gas as a means of power generation, a stark comparison to Agatha who's entire power generation system is entirely dependent on natural gas. A history of experiencing large gas shortages through numerous failed agreements with the Agathan Fuel Trading Company, the state company of Agatha responsible for selling oil and natural gas to the other states, strengthened Flindar's commitment to decrease dependence on fossil fuels. Since then, electricity has been generated mostly from hydropower and nuclear power. The use of nuclear power has been limited, however. Concurrently, Flindar possesses one (1) nuclear power plant known as the Sunderlund Nuclear Power Plant. Amidst concerns of nuclear waste dumping, the National Assembly of Flindar, voted to ban the future construction of nuclear power plants. Following the federal government's commitment to reduce Kazulia's overall dependence on natural gas as a means of power generation, the Flindarish Government has made significant pushes in the National Assembly to ban nuclear power generation in Flindar. State politicians argue that a ban on nuclear power would increase support and investment into renewable energy, notably wind power. Category:Kazulia Category:Regions